Method, apparatus and computer program product for spatial auditory cues

ABSTRACT

A method, apparatus, and computer program product are therefore provided for providing a navigation user interface. The apparatus may be caused to: receive an indication of location based information for a user; provide for generation of a first auditory cue, where generation of the first auditory cue may include generating an audio cue having a virtual source location using three-dimensional audio effects. Providing for generation of the first auditory cue may include causing the apparatus to: provide for generation of a beginning of the first auditory cue at a first virtual source location; and provide for generation of a transition phase of the first auditory cue moving the virtual source location from the first virtual source location along a trajectory and ending at a second virtual source location, where the second virtual source location is a location positioned between the user and a location identified in the location based information.

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

An example embodiment of the present invention relates generally tonavigation assistance, at least semi-autonomous vehicle control, anduser interface techniques, and more particularly, to a method, apparatusand computer program product for providing spatial auditory cues tofacilitate user interaction with navigational assistance or at leastsemi-autonomous vehicle control.

BACKGROUND

Maps have been used for centuries for providing route geometry andgeographical information, while routes have conventionally been plannedby hand along paths defined by the maps. Conventional paper mapsincluding static images of roadways and geographic features from asnapshot in history have given way to digital maps presented oncomputers and mobile devices, and navigation has been enhanced throughthe use of graphical user interfaces.

Digital maps and navigation can provide dynamic route guidance to usersas they travel along a route. Further, dynamic map attributes such asroute traffic, route conditions, and other dynamic map-relatedinformation may be provided to enhance the digital maps and facilitatenavigation. Different map service providers along with different userinterfaces (e.g., different mobile devices or different vehiclenavigation systems) may result in non-uniform map and route guidanceinterfaces, which may not be intuitive or easily understood by a user,particularly one that is accustomed to a different type of map andnavigation interface. Further, visual displays of route guidanceinstructions may not always be convenient or safe for a user toreference. As such, route guidance is often coupled with audiblecommands regarding maneuvers such as turns. However, these audiblecommands may be confusing or difficult to understand when provided in acomplex intersection or when faced with multiple similar maneuveroptions.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A method, apparatus, and computer program product are therefore providedfor providing a user interface for navigation. Embodiments may providean apparatus including at least one processor and at least onenon-transitory memory including computer program code instructions. Thecomputer program code instructions may be configured to, when executed,cause the apparatus to at least: receive an indication of location basedinformation for a user; provide for generation of a first auditory cuein response to receiving the indication of location based information,where the first auditory cue includes a sound configured to alert theuser of the availability of the location based information; provide forgeneration of a second auditory cue, where generation of the secondauditory cue include generating an auditory cue having a virtual sourcelocation using three-dimensional spatial audio cues. The apparatus mayprovide for generation of a beginning of the second audio cue at a firstvirtual source location, and provide for generation of a transitionphase of the second audio cue moving the virtual source location fromthe first virtual source location along a trajectory and ending at asecond virtual source location, where the second virtual source locationis a location positioned between the user and a location identified inthe location based information.

According to some embodiments, the apparatus may be caused to provide athird auditory cue in response to the second auditory cue ending, wherethe third auditory cue includes a sound generated with a virtual sourcelocation at the second virtual source location. The first auditory cuemay include an omnidirectional sound lacking a perceptible virtualsource location from which the sound emanates. The second auditory cuemay include a natural language sentence conveying the location basedinformation to the user. The first auditory cue and the second auditorycue may be generated by a plurality of audio speakers using at least onespatial audio method. The first virtual source location may be proximatethe user's head, where the trajectory may be a curved trajectory fromthe first virtual source location to the second virtual source location.The curved trajectory may be in a horizontal plane.

Embodiments may provide a computer program product including at leastone non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computerexecutable program code instructions stored therein. Thecomputer-executable program code instructions may include program codeinstructions to: receive an indication of location based navigationinformation for a user; provide for generation of an auditory cue, wheregeneration of the auditory cue includes generating an auditory cuehaving a virtual source location using three-dimensional audio effects.The apparatus may be caused to: provide for generation of a beginning ofthe auditory cue at a first virtual source location; and provide forgeneration of a transition phase of the auditory cue moving the virtualsource location from the first virtual source location along atrajectory and ending at a second virtual source location, where thesecond virtual source location is a location positioned between the userand a location identified in the location based navigation information,where the auditory cue includes natural language instructions regardingroute guidance.

The auditory cue may be a first auditory cue, where the computer programproduct may optionally include program code instructions to: provide asecond auditory cue in response to the first auditory cue ending, wherethe second auditory cue includes a sound generated with a virtual sourcelocation at the second virtual source location. The auditory cue mayinclude an instruction regarding a maneuver to remain on a route of theroute guidance, where the second virtual source location may bepositioned between the user and a location associated with the maneuver.The auditory cue may be a first auditory cue, and the computer programproduct may include program code instructions to provide for generationof an initial auditory cue, where the initial auditory cue precedes thefirst auditory cue and includes an omnidirectional sound relative to theuser. The initial auditory cue and the first auditory cue may beconfigured to be generated by a plurality of audio speakers using atleast one spatial audio method. The first virtual source location may beproximate a user's head and the trajectory may be a curved trajectoryfrom the first virtual source location to the second virtual sourcelocation. The curved trajectory may be in a horizontal plane.

Embodiments provided herein may include a method including: receiving anindication of location based information for a user; providing forgeneration of a first auditory cue, where generation of the firstauditory cue may include generating an audio cue having a virtual sourcelocation using three-dimensional audio effects. Providing for generationof the first auditory cue may include: providing for generation of abeginning of the first auditory cue at a first virtual source location;providing for generation of a transition phase of the first auditory cuemoving the virtual source location from the first virtual sourcelocation along a trajectory and ending at a second virtual sourcelocation, where the second virtual source location is a locationpositioned between the user and a location identified in the locationbased information. A second auditory cue may be provided in response tothe first auditory cue ending, where the second auditory cue includes asound generated with a virtual source location at the second virtualsource location.

Methods may include providing an initial auditory cue before the firstauditory cue, where the initial auditory cue includes an omnidirectionalsound relative to the user. The initial auditory cue may include anomnidirectional sound lacking a perceptible virtual source location fromwhich the sound emanates. The first auditory cue may include a naturallanguage sentence conveying the location based information to the user.The first auditory cue and the second auditory cue may be configured tobe generated by a plurality of audio speakers using at least one spatialaudio method. The first virtual source location may be proximate theuser's head and the trajectory may be a curved trajectory from the firstvirtual source location to the second virtual source location.

Embodiments provided herein may include an apparatus including: meansfor receiving an indication of location based information for a user;means for providing for generation of a first auditory cue, wheregeneration of the first auditory cue may include generating an audio cuehaving a virtual source location using three-dimensional audio effects.The means for providing for generation of the first auditory cue mayinclude: means for providing for generation of a beginning of the firstauditory cue at a first virtual source location; and means for providingfor generation of a transition phase of the first auditory cue movingthe virtual source location from the first virtual source location alonga trajectory and ending at a second virtual source location, where thesecond virtual source location is a location positioned between the userand a location identified in the location based information. A secondauditory cue may be provided in response to the first auditory cueending, where the second auditory cue includes a sound generated with avirtual source location at the second virtual source location.

An example apparatus may include means for providing an initial auditorycue before the first auditory cue, where the initial auditory cueincludes an omnidirectional sound relative to the user. The initialauditory cue may include an omnidirectional sound lacking a perceptiblevirtual source location from which the sound emanates. The firstauditory cue may include a natural language sentence conveying thelocation based information to the user. The first auditory cue and thesecond auditory cue may be configured to be generated by a plurality ofaudio speakers using at least one spatial audio method. The firstvirtual source location may be proximate the user's head and thetrajectory may be a curved trajectory from the first virtual sourcelocation to the second virtual source location.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described certain example embodiments of the presentinvention in general terms, reference will hereinafter be made to theaccompanying drawings which are not necessarily drawn to scale, andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus according to an exampleembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system of implementing route guidance ona navigation system according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 depicts an example environment and graphical representation ofaudible cues according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example “catch” sound audible cue relative to auser according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example “inform” sound audible cue relative to auser according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example “aid” sound audible cue relative to a useraccording to an example embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for providing audible cues to a userto facilitate route guidance or to provide information having adirectional component according to an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some embodiments of the present invention will now be described morefully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichsome, but not all, embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed,various embodiments of the invention may be embodied in many differentforms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments setforth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that thisdisclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like referencenumerals refer to like elements throughout. As used herein, the terms“data,” “content,” “information,” and similar terms may be usedinterchangeably to refer to data capable of being transmitted, receivedand/or stored in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.Thus, use of any such terms should not be taken to limit the spirit andscope of embodiments of the present invention.

As defined herein, a “computer-readable storage medium,” which refers toa physical storage medium (e.g., volatile or non-volatile memorydevice), may be differentiated from a “computer-readable transmissionmedium,” which refers to an electromagnetic signal.

A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention forproviding an effective delivery of information through spatial audio ina navigational context. A combined approach of auditory stimuli isdescribed herein to form a spatial sound language. The spatial audiocues described herein may provide a useful and easily interpretedinstruction to a user in a manner that promotes user understanding ofthe audio cues and precise location indications provided solely throughauditory cues. The auditory cues of example embodiments may includemultiple elements, such as a “catch” audio cue to initially grab auser's attention, an “inform” audio cue to inform the driver of thenature of the occurring event and direct the user's attention toward arelevant direction in space, and an “aid” audio cue to confirm andreinforce the spatial information of the “inform” cue aiding toward theaction to be taken. As described herein, embodiments of the claims mayprovide for a user interface with a navigation system or vehicleinfotainment system. The user interface described herein provides anintuitive and easily understood audio cues that convey information andrelevant location to a user.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example apparatus configured forperforming any of the operations described herein. Apparatus 20 is anexample embodiment that may be embodied by or associated with any of avariety of computing devices that include or are otherwise associatedwith a device configured for providing a navigation system orinfotainment system user interface. For example, the computing devicemay be a mobile terminal, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA),mobile telephone, smart phone, personal navigation device, smart watch,tablet computer, camera or any combination of the aforementioned andother types of voice and text communications systems. Optionally, thecomputing device may be a fixed computing device, such as a built-invehicular navigation device, assisted driving device, or the like.

Optionally, the apparatus may be embodied by or associated with aplurality of computing devices that are in communication with orotherwise networked with one another such that the various functionsperformed by the apparatus may be divided between the plurality ofcomputing devices that operate in collaboration with one another.

The apparatus 20 may be equipped with any number of sensors 21, such asa global positioning system (GPS), accelerometer, and/or gyroscope. Anyof the sensors may be used to sense information regarding the movement,positioning, or orientation of the device for use in navigationassistance, as described herein according to example embodiments. Insome example embodiments, such sensors may be implemented in a vehicleor other remote apparatus, and the information detected may betransmitted to the apparatus 20, such as by near field communication(NFC) including, but not limited to, Bluetooth™ communication, or thelike.

The apparatus 20 may include, be associated with, or may otherwise be incommunication with a communication interface 22, processor 24, a memorydevice 26 and a user interface 28. In some embodiments, the processor(and/or co-processors or any other processing circuitry assisting orotherwise associated with the processor) may be in communication withthe memory device via a bus for passing information among components ofthe apparatus. The memory device may be non-transitory and may include,for example, one or more volatile and/or non-volatile memories. In otherwords, for example, the memory device may be an electronic storagedevice (for example, a computer readable storage medium) comprisinggates configured to store data (for example, bits) that may beretrievable by a machine (for example, a computing device like theprocessor). The memory device may be configured to store information,data, content, applications, instructions, or the like for enabling theapparatus to carry out various functions in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention. For example, the memory devicecould be configured to buffer input data for processing by theprocessor. Additionally or alternatively, the memory device could beconfigured to store instructions for execution by the processor.

As noted above, the apparatus 20 may be embodied by a mobile device.However, in some embodiments, the apparatus may be embodied as a chip orchip set. In other words, the apparatus may comprise one or morephysical packages (for example, chips) including materials, componentsand/or wires on a structural assembly (for example, a circuit board).The structural assembly may provide physical strength, conservation ofsize, and/or limitation of electrical interaction for componentcircuitry included thereon. The apparatus may therefore, in some cases,be configured to implement an embodiment of the present invention on asingle chip or as a single “system on a chip.” As such, in some cases, achip or chipset may constitute means for performing one or moreoperations for providing the functionalities described herein.

The processor 24 may be embodied in a number of different ways. Forexample, the processor may be embodied as one or more of varioushardware processing means such as a coprocessor, a microprocessor, acontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a processing element withor without an accompanying DSP, or various other processing circuitryincluding integrated circuits such as, for example, an ASIC (applicationspecific integrated circuit), an FPGA (field programmable gate array), amicrocontroller unit (MCU), a hardware accelerator, a special-purposecomputer chip, or the like. As such, in some embodiments, the processormay include one or more processing cores configured to performindependently. A multi-core processor may enable multiprocessing withina single physical package. Additionally or alternatively, the processormay include one or more processors configured in tandem via the bus toenable independent execution of instructions, pipelining and/ormultithreading.

In an example embodiment, the processor 24 may be configured to executeinstructions stored in the memory device 26 or otherwise accessible tothe processor. Alternatively or additionally, the processor may beconfigured to execute hard coded functionality. As such, whetherconfigured by hardware or software methods, or by a combination thereof,the processor may represent an entity (for example, physically embodiedin circuitry) capable of performing operations according to anembodiment of the present invention while configured accordingly. Thus,for example, when the processor is embodied as an ASIC, FPGA or thelike, the processor may be specifically configured hardware forconducting the operations described herein. Alternatively, as anotherexample, when the processor is embodied as an executor of softwareinstructions, the instructions may specifically configure the processorto perform the algorithms and/or operations described herein when theinstructions are executed. However, in some cases, the processor may bea processor of a specific device (for example, the computing device)configured to employ an embodiment of the present invention by furtherconfiguration of the processor by instructions for performing thealgorithms and/or operations described herein. The processor mayinclude, among other things, a clock, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) andlogic gates configured to support operation of the processor.

The apparatus 20 of an example embodiment may also include or otherwisebe in communication with a user interface 28. The user interface mayinclude a touch screen display, a speaker, a plurality of spatiallyarranged speakers, headphones, ear bud speakers, physical buttons,and/or other input/output mechanisms. In an example embodiment, theprocessor 24 may comprise user interface circuitry configured to controlat least some functions of one or more input/output mechanisms. Theprocessor and/or user interface circuitry comprising the processor maybe configured to control one or more functions of one or moreinput/output mechanisms through computer program instructions (forexample, software and/or firmware) stored on a memory accessible to theprocessor (for example, memory device 24, and/or the like). In thisregard, the apparatus 20 may provide spatial auditory cues via speakers,headphones, earbuds, or the like, to a user to convey information and arelevant location, for example.

The apparatus 20 of an example embodiment may also optionally include acommunication interface 22 that may be any means such as a device orcircuitry embodied in either hardware or a combination of hardware andsoftware that is configured to receive and/or transmit data from/toother electronic devices in communication with the apparatus, such as byNFC, described above. Additionally or alternatively, the communicationinterface 22 may be configured to communicate over Global System forMobile Communications (GSM), such as but not limited to Long TermEvolution (LTE). In this regard, the communication interface 22 mayinclude, for example, an antenna (or multiple antennas) and supportinghardware and/or software for enabling communications with a wirelesscommunication network. Additionally or alternatively, the communicationinterface 22 may include the circuitry for interacting with theantenna(s) to cause transmission of signals via the antenna(s) or tohandle receipt of signals received via the antenna(s). In someenvironments, the communication interface 22 may alternatively or alsosupport wired communication may alternatively support vehicle to vehicleor vehicle to infrastructure wireless links.

The apparatus 20 may support a mapping application so as to present mapsor otherwise provide navigation assistance. In order to support amapping application, the computing device may include or otherwise be incommunication with a geographic database, such as may be stored inmemory 26. For example, the geographic database includes node datarecords, road segment or link data records, point of interest (POI) datarecords, and other data records. More, fewer or different data recordscan be provided. In one embodiment, the other data records includecartographic data records, routing data, and maneuver data. One or moreportions, components, areas, layers, features, text, and/or symbols ofthe POI or event data can be stored in, linked to, and/or associatedwith one or more of these data records. For example, one or moreportions of the POI, event data, or recorded route information can bematched with respective map or geographic records via position or GPSdata associations (such as using known or future map matching orgeo-coding techniques), for example. Furthermore, other positioningtechnology may be used, such as electronic horizon sensors, radar,lidar, ultrasonic and/or infrared sensors.

In example embodiments, a navigation system user interface may beprovided to provide route guidance from an origin to a destination.Navigation systems may receive an indication of an origin, which mayinclude a current location of a device on which the navigation system isoperating (e.g., an in-vehicle navigation system or a mobile device, forexample), and an indication of a destination where the user of thenavigation system is going. In response to receiving the origin anddestination pair, a route may be generated between the origin anddestination. The route may be generated according to user preferencesfor fastest travel time, minimizing highways (e.g., limited accesshigh-speed roadways), maximizing highways, shortest distance, etc.Further, waypoints may be provided between the origin and destination,or a route may include multiple, sequential destinations. Exampleembodiments provided herein may be used for a navigation system userinterface to provide route guidance to the first destination, the lastdestination, or the ultimate destination with waypoints indicated in theroute guidance from the origin and possibly points of interest along theroute.

A map service provider database may be used to provide route guidance toa navigation system. FIG. 2 illustrates a communication diagram of anexample embodiment of a system for implementing example embodimentsdescribed herein. The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2 includes a mobiledevice 104, which may be, for example, the apparatus 20 of FIG. 2, suchas a mobile phone, an in-vehicle navigation system, or the like, and amap data service provider or cloud service 108. Each of the mobiledevice 104 and map data service provider 108 may be in communicationwith at least one of the other elements illustrated in FIG. 2 via anetwork 112, which may be any form of wireless or partially wirelessnetwork as will be described further below. Additional, different, orfewer components may be provided. For example, many mobile devices 104may connect with the network 112. The map data service provider 108 maybe cloud-based services and/or may operate via a hosting server thatreceives, processes, and provides data to other elements of the system.

The map data service provider may include a map database 110 that mayinclude node data, road segment data or link data, point of interest(POI) data, traffic data or the like. The map database 110 may alsoinclude cartographic data, routing data, and/or maneuvering data.According to some example embodiments, the road segment data records maybe links or segments representing roads, streets, or paths, as may beused in calculating a route or recorded route information fordetermination of one or more personalized routes. The node data may beend points corresponding to the respective links or segments of roadsegment data. The road link data and the node data may represent a roadnetwork, such as used by vehicles, cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles,and/or other entities. Optionally, the map database 110 may contain pathsegment and node data records or other data that may representpedestrian paths or areas in addition to or instead of the vehicle roadrecord data, for example. The road/link segments and nodes can beassociated with attributes, such as geographic coordinates, streetnames, address ranges, speed limits, turn restrictions at intersections,and other navigation related attributes, as well as POIs, such asfueling stations, hotels, restaurants, museums, stadiums, offices, autorepair shops, buildings, stores, parks, etc. The map database 110 caninclude data about the POIs and their respective locations in the POIrecords. The map database 110 may include data about places, such ascities, towns, or other communities, and other geographic features suchas bodies of water, mountain ranges, etc. Such place or feature data canbe part of the POI data or can be associated with POIs or POI datarecords (such as a data point used for displaying or representing aposition of a city). In addition, the map database 110 can include eventdata (e.g., traffic incidents, construction activities, scheduledevents, unscheduled events, etc.) associated with the POI data recordsor other records of the map database 110.

The map database 110 may be maintained by a content provider e.g., themap data service provider and may be accessed, for example, by thecontent or service provider processing server 102. By way of example,the map data service provider can collect geographic data and dynamicdata to generate and enhance the map database 110 and dynamic data suchas traffic-related data contained therein. There can be different waysused by the map developer to collect data. These ways can includeobtaining data from other sources, such as municipalities or respectivegeographic authorities, such as via global information system databases.In addition, the map developer can employ field personnel to travel byvehicle along roads throughout the geographic region to observe featuresand/or record information about them, for example. Also, remote sensing,such as aerial or satellite photography and/or LIDAR, can be used togenerate map geometries directly or through machine learning asdescribed herein. However, the most ubiquitous form of data that may beavailable is vehicle data provided by vehicles, such as mobile device104, as they travel the roads throughout a region.

The map database 110 may be a master map database stored in a formatthat facilitates updates, maintenance, and development. For example, themaster map database or data in the master map database can be in anOracle spatial format or other spatial format, such as for developmentor production purposes. The Oracle spatial format ordevelopment/production database can be compiled into a delivery format,such as a geographic data files (GDF) format. The data in the productionand/or delivery formats can be compiled or further compiled to formgeographic database products or databases, which can be used in end usernavigation devices or systems.

For example, geographic data may be compiled (such as into a platformspecification format (PSF) format) to organize and/or configure the datafor performing navigation-related functions and/or services, such asroute calculation, route guidance, map display, speed calculation,distance and travel time functions, and other functions, by a navigationdevice, such as by a vehicle represented by mobile device 104, forexample. The navigation-related functions can correspond to vehiclenavigation, pedestrian navigation, or other types of navigation. Whileexample embodiments described herein generally relate to vehiculartravel along roads, example embodiments may be implemented forpedestrian travel along walkways, bicycle travel along bike paths, boattravel along maritime navigational routes, etc. The compilation toproduce the end user databases can be performed by a party or entityseparate from the map developer. For example, a customer of the mapdeveloper, such as a navigation device developer or other end userdevice developer, can perform compilation on a received map database ina delivery format to produce one or more compiled navigation databases.

As mentioned above, the map data service provider 108 map database 110may be a master geographic database, but in alternate embodiments, aclient side map database may represent a compiled navigation databasethat may be used in or with end user devices (e.g., mobile device 104)to provide navigation and/or map-related functions. For example, the mapdatabase 110 may be used with the mobile device 104 to provide an enduser with navigation features. In such a case, the map database 110 canbe downloaded or stored on the end user device which can access the mapdatabase 110 through a wireless or wired connection, such as via aprocessing server 102 and/or the network 112, for example.

In one embodiment, as noted above, the end user device or mobile device104 can be embodied by the apparatus 20 of FIG. 1 and can include anin-vehicle navigation system, such as an ADAS (advanced driverassistance system), a personal navigation device (PND), a portablenavigation device, a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a watch, a camera, a computer, and/or otherdevice that can perform navigation-related functions, such as digitalrouting and map display. An end user can use the mobile device 104 fornavigation and map functions such as guidance and map display, forexample, and for determination of one or more personalized routes orroute segments based on one or more calculated and recorded routes,according to some example embodiments.

Route guidance from an origin to a destination may be communicated to auser through visual and/or auditory cues. Auditory cues are typicallysynthesized voice instructions that deliver spoken instructions to adriver regarding a next upcoming maneuver required to stay on a route toa destination. Navigation systems and routing engines may determinedecision points within the road network corresponding to maneuvers, andthese decision points may be provided to a text-to-speech engine forconverting the maneuvers into spoken instructions. Spoken instructionsmay be the communication channel of choice, as opposed to writteninstructions on a display or visual instructions on a display, toimprove safety, as the driver may be using their vision for the task ofdriving.

In the field of sound reproduction, improvements have been developedover years to enhance the auditory experience. Monoaural sound may besufficient to convey a message; however, developments such as stereosound and spatial audio methods (e.g., surround, binaural audio,Ambisonics, vector base amplitude panning (VBAP), virtual sound sourcepositioning, etc.) have expanded the possibilities of using sound tosimulate an entire three-dimensional environment and to convey richauditory information such as the characteristic of emission of a soundsource (e.g., is it a widespread source or a directional source), thesound source position, and distance from a listener. Further, themovement of a sound source in space may be conveyed using spatial audiomethods. The characteristics of an acoustic space within which the soundis produced may be tuned to convey characteristics of a sound sourcewith a high level of accuracy. These methods exploit the fullcapabilities of the human ear to perceive and discriminate moreinformation about a sound event than simply its content.

As autonomous vehicle control begins to take shape, new interactionparadigms between users can be exploited. Vehicle autonomy can includepartial autonomy with driver assistance features such as lane-keepassist, adaptive cruise control, and brake assist features, for example,but can also include full autonomy where a driver becomes a passenger inthe vehicle while the vehicle controls all functions of driving. In someinstances, vehicle autonomy may transition during different phases of adriving event, such as where a driver begins to drive along a route, butthen “handover” vehicle control to an autonomous system. Handover eventsand experiences may require a complete engagement of the user, such asto receive cues as to when to take over or relinquish control of thevehicle which requires the full attention of the driver. A “spatiallyinformed driver” may be informed of where the next action needs to takeplace in the handover experience. In full autonomous mode, where allvehicle users are passengers, interaction with the vehicle may bereduced to general instructions regarding destinations and the vehicleassumes an informative and/or entertaining role in the interaction.Further, in a higher degree of automation, vehicles may no longerresemble vehicles as conventionally used today, and may adapt intotransport units that can include alienation from the surroundingsoutside the transport unit. Spatial awareness through sound augmentationof reality can offer a discrete solution to contrast alienation.

Conventional voice navigation instructions are delivered as a messageonly without any spatial considerations. This approach may be sufficientin straightforward navigational situations, such as a rural roadintersection without any unconventional road features proximate theintersection, but as the complexity of roads and related maneuversincreases, such as around dense urban environments, additionalinformation may be desirable. Visual displays of route guidanceinformation and point of interest information may be more detailed andmay provide a user a greater understanding of their surroundings;however, this may distract a driver from a maneuver if they are moving,particularly in a densely populated area. The delivered voiceinstructions alone may not be sufficient for a driver to interpret amaneuver in a spatial context.

Provided herein is a method to solve the problem related to contextawareness and how to provide spatially relevant auditory information, inthe form of spoken or other auditory stimuli that aids the driver of avehicle in performing the next action whether it is a maneuver or ahandover event. While a vehicle is in an autonomous mode, for achievinga truly immersive experience, information about a vehicle's surroundingsmay be conveyed not only as content, but as spatially localizedinformation relevant to a specific point outside of the vehicle.

Embodiments described herein provide an effective delivery ofinformation through spatial audio in the navigation context and in theinformational context. A combined approach of auditory stimuli may forma “spatial sound language”. Three consequential stages are proposedwhich may all be used together, or may be used in varioussub-combinations in order to achieve the desired result. These threedifferent information levels provide a differentiated approach regardingtheir sound content and spatial qualities in order to provide usefulspatial information. The three information levels may include: Catch—tocatch the driver's attention without being too invasive of distracting;Inform—to inform the driver on the nature of the occurring event and todirect the driver's attention to a direction in space; and Aid—toconfirm and reinforce the spatial information aiding toward the actionto be taken.

The “catch” sound may be characterized as a brief and omnidirectionalsound, such as a ring of sound coming from all around a listener, usedto announce that the system is initiating a communication to the diver.This enables a driver's spatial sound perception to awaken and totransition to a perceptually receptive state for the upcominginstruction if the driver is not already ready for such an instruction.

The “inform” sound may come in the form of spoken instructions such as anatural language sentence, delivering a more complex payload ofinformation that cannot be unambiguously conveyed with a simple sound.The delivery of these spoken instructions may be done such that,spatially, the voice starts at the driver's head and continues to movetoward the decision point (e.g., a maneuver/turn) or other locationassociated with the information that is being conveyed. The sound can belocated in the horizontal plane of a three-dimensional space following atrajectory with high precision.

The “aid” sound may follow the “inform” sound and may be positioned onthe horizontal plane of the three-dimensional space of the listener inthe same position where the “inform” message ended its trajectory. The“aid” auditory cue may be to confirm, reinforce, and maintain thespatial memory of the direction given by the “inform” stimuli. The “aid”cue acts as a “sonic pin” attached toward the direction to be followed.

Different approaches are available for delivering spatial sound in avehicle. Particularly the inform and aid cues that may be deliveredusing either a binaural approach with speakers adjacent to the driver'sears or Higher Order Ambisonics using an arrangement of multichannelspeakers in a vehicle.

In order to provide useful navigation assistance or point of interestinformation through spatial auditory cues of example embodiments, alocation of the user and vehicle must be determined. This may beperformed through a combination of GNSS (Global Navigation SatelliteSystem) sensors and other vehicle sensors, such as inertial measurementunits (IMUs) or the like, as represented by sensors 21 of apparatus 20in FIG. 1. Other positioning means may optionally be used, such aslocation referencing using road side objects, cellular signal ornear-field communication signal fingerprinting or triangulation, etc. Acoordinate pair, with varying degrees of accuracy dependent on thepositioning methods may be used to determine the location of thevehicle. The determined location may be associated with a location on adigital map maintained, for example, by map data service provider 108 ofFIG. 2.

A user of the vehicle, such a driver, may provide a desired destinationusing physical controls or voice activation. Optionally, a destinationmay be predicted using collected mobility patterns. Once a destinationhas been established, a route to the destination may be generated. Sucha route may include decision points where a driver may be required toperform a maneuver. Optionally, the route may include points of interestor waypoint that may be established based on user preferences, mobilitypatterns, crowd-sourced information such as interest/popularity, or thelike. The decision points, points of interest, and waypoints may eachcorrespond to a specific coordinate pair in the map that is along orproximate the route to the destination.

Using a current location of a vehicle, the location of a decision point,and the required maneuver, a spatial audio cue may be generated. Thespatial audio cue may conform to the Catch, Inform, Aid conceptdescribed above where three different audio cues need to be generated.FIG. 3 illustrates a visual depiction of the three spatial audio cuesgenerated within the interior of a vehicle 200 according to theembodiments described herein. The catch sound 202, represented by thecircle around the driver's seat headrest, provides an initial alertproduced by the system. Generally the catch sound 202 may beomnidirectional in nature. The inform sound 204 represented by the arcprovides a dynamic spatial transition, where a virtual source locationor source point of the sound progresses from a position close to thedriver's head or driver's seat headrest 208 and moves to a positionaligned with the decision point, point of interest, or waypoint. Theposition aligned with the decision point, point of interest, or waypointmay be a location between the driver, and more specifically the driver'shead, and the location to which the driver's attention is to be drawn.Using spatial audio techniques, the location of the sound generatedduring the inform sound 204 stage has a virtual source location thatdynamically transitions from the driver to the location of interest. Theinform sound 204 may provide a wandering voice producing naturallanguage starting an instruction at the driver's head and guiding theattention toward the decision point, point of interest, or waypoint. Theaid sound 206 has a virtual source position at the end of the informsound 204 virtual source location and may be, for example, a short,distinct sound that can be identified as if it were occurring at aspecific location within the soundscape. This aid sound 206 sets amarker corresponding to the decision point, point of interest, orwaypoint.

The catch, inform, and aid sound principles of sonic language used toalert the driver provide a unique way of grabbing the attention of auser, steering that attention toward a location, and reinforcing thelocation. FIGS. 4-6 illustrate the auditory cues relative to a user,where a catch 302 sound may be heard in FIG. 4 as an omnidirectionalsound with no apparent virtual source location as heard by a user/driver300. FIG. 5 illustrates the inform sound 304 of a voice instruction asthe virtual source of the voice instruction begins close to the user 300and progresses through a trajectory including intermediate point 310 andfinal point 312. This dynamic movement of the virtual source helps theuser 300 to better understand a location of the final point 312 asmoving sounds may be easier to pinpoint for location relative tostationary sounds as described further below. FIG. 6 illustrates the aidsound 306 occurring at a virtual source location that is aligned betweenthe user 300 and the location of interest (e.g., decision point, pointof interest, waypoint, etc.). The user's 300 line of sight 316 may bedirected toward the sound, which the steers the user's attention to theappropriate location.

The catch sound 202, 302 may be a static, omnidirectional sound withabstract, synthetic tones. The inform sound 204, 304 may be a sound witha moving virtual source location that includes, for example, speechproviding information to a user 300. The aid sound 206, 306, may includea hybricon, for example, which may be an abstract sound thatincorporates a sense of urgency. The hybricon may optionally have arepetitive content so that directional confirmation may be maintained asthe user approaches the location.

The catch sound may create a perceptual transition from the soundscapesurrounding the driver toward a state of mind ready to receive furtherinformation, such as the inform sound and the aid sound. The naturalsoundscape around a driver/user may be a mix of several sounds, such asroad noise transmitted through wheels/tires to the passenger cabin ofthe vehicle, wind noise, directional sounds such as conversations withpassengers, or distributed sounds such as a stereo or music player, etc.

To create a sense of global acoustic transition, the catch sound may bestatic in its position and omnidirectional in its spatial distributionwith no definitive virtual source location. For example, it may beperceived as a ring of sound disposed at 360 degrees surrounding theuser/driver. To create this effect, four plane waves may be located tothe front, back, left, and right of a user's head and generated by highorder ambisonics or other three-dimensional sound techniques anddelivered through the audio speakers of the vehicle. Optionally, asimilar effect can be created using several point sound sourcespositioned on a perimeter of a horizontal imaginary circle of a radiusabout one meter or greater centered proximate the user's head.Optionally, a similar effect can also be created using all the speakersin the car to output the same sound signal at the same moment and withthe proper level.

To further augment the omnidirectional character of the sound, the soniccontent may be an abstract earcon—a sound that is an abstract, synthetictone—as opposed to an auditory icon. Earcons provide no intuitive linkbetween the sound and what the sound represents. Earcons can thereforealso be more difficult to localize in space, making them a good fit forthe catch sound.

The inform sound is intended to lead the user/driver's attention towardone direction in space, such as where a driver needs to go or performtheir next maneuver. To leverage a person's ability to locate sounds inspace, a basic function of human perception, the inform sound may be amoving, dynamic sound. The sound may be rendered as a directionalvirtual source moving on a curved trajectory in the horizontal plane. Inthis manner, the acoustic sound generating device, whether headphones,headrest speakers, stereo speakers, multi-channel speakers (e.g., 5.1 or7.1 surround sound speakers) may generate a sound having a virtualsource location, where a user may perceive the source of the soundgenerated by the sound generating device to be coming from the virtualsource location. The device may further cause the virtual sourcelocation to move in the curved trajectory of the horizontal plane.Sounds in motion may provide stronger localization cues than staticsounds and strong mental representations of spatial directions. Thesound trajectory may include a curved line on the azimuthal plane onwhich the sound travels at 30-50 degrees per second. Higher and lowerspeeds are possible and still well within the range of hearingperception of the location and movement. However, a speed range ofaround 30-50 degrees per second may be more pleasing to a user.Generally, the inform sound may not terminate at a location directly infront of or behind a user as this may cause back/front confusion. Whilea curved trajectory is described with respect to example embodimentsprovided herein, other trajectories are possible, such as lineartrajectories or poly-line trajectories, for example.

The frequency range of the human voice is within a range that the humanear is most sensitive to. Further, speech can carry unambiguous messagesthat abstract and pure sounds cannot. For the inform sound, a spokeninstruction may be used to unambiguously inform the user/driver aboutthe current reason of the prompt—whether it is an alert, a hazard,etc.—and the suggested action to be taken. The spoken content may beconstructed following a two-stage principle: the first part of thephrase may provide context awareness information, while the second partof the phrase may offer a call to action, which may then be reinforcedby the aid sound. For example, a message may include a condition orevent that is occurring and to inform the user/driver of an action totake. The message may be that “an ambulance is approaching from behind:move to the right as soon as you can.” The phrase may be enunciatedwhile moving dynamically along the curved trajectory described above.

The aid sound may confirm and reinforce the received spatialinformation, aiding toward the action to be taken or direction tofollow. The aid sound may come in a continuation to the spokeninstructions of the inform sound and have a virtual source locationproximate the end of the inform sound trajectory. The virtual sourcelocation of the aid sound might therefore be located on the horizontalplane of a three-dimensional space at the coordinates/angular directionwhere the inform message ended its movement. The aid sound functions asa “sonic pin” to reinforce memory of where to go. It is thus rendered asa static directional source that the user/driver can perceive toward thedirection they are intended to take action toward. Map data and carsensor data may be used to further increase the precision of where torender a moved position of the aid sound, in coherence with what is thenext possible maneuvering point and availability of movement or lanechange.

The aid sound may reinforce the perception of the overall message by theuser/driver as it provides an abstract directional cue that follows thespoken instructions. In this manner, redundancy may be achieved in thedirection to take in the form of reconfirmation by the system in theevent the user/driver could did not pay attention or get the content ofthe spoken message completely. For this reason, the content of the aidsound may be indicated to be a hybricon as hybricons are sounds thatincorporate a sense of urgency. To maximize the aid sound, the hybriconmay optionally be repetitive or have repetitive content so thatdirection confirmation may be provided to the user/driver withoutadditional new sounds being presented.

According to some embodiments, the map data in map database 110 of mapdata service provider 108 may be used to define the timing of the threeauditory cues which need to correspond to a location of a maneuver,point of interest, or waypoint taking into account an appropriatedistance at which to start the notification, calculate a future vehicleposition, and give the user/driver enough time to perform the maneuver.

According to further embodiments, adjustments may be made to thebinaural or ambisonic sound and sound trajectories and angles usingin-vehicle gaze tracking. As a user/driver moves their head whiledriving, providing an auditory cue to a specific location relative tothe user becomes more difficult. Using a gaze tracker of a user mayallow embodiments described herein to estimate where the ears of theuser are by locating the eyes. The resulting ear offset may be fed intothe system for accurate generation of the sound stage in relation to theposition of the driver's head position and orientation. In the event ofbinaural audio delivered through headrest loud speakers, headphones, orearbuds, the eye tracking may optionally be used to select the mostappropriate head related transfer function (HRTF) profile from an HRTFdatabase by measuring the distance between the eyes of each user.

While embodiments described herein include a catch, inform, and aidauditory cue, embodiments may omit the catch or aid auditory cue andprovide only the inform auditory cue, or the auditory cue paired withthe catch auditory cue or the aid auditory cue. Further, whileembodiments may be implemented in a vehicle as a navigational aid orroute guidance mechanism, embodiments may optionally be implemented fora pedestrian or operator of other mode of transportation, such as abicycle. In such a manner, a pedestrian or cyclist may use headphones orearbuds, and may use example embodiments described herein in the samemanner as an automotive implementation.

The device or apparatus generating the sound of the catch, inform, andaid auditory cues may be configured to perform actions to have eachsound generating device (e.g., speaker, headphone, earbud) to reproducea specific sound signal such that the combination of audio signals fromthe various sound generating devices will result in a perceived virtualsource location of the sound. The actions may include a combination oftime delays, spectrum filters, amplitude modulation, etc. may varydepending upon the specific spatial rendering technique used. Therendering technique may vary in dependence of the hardware available toreproduce the sound. For example, if the sound producing hardwareincludes earbuds or headphones, a head-related transfer function (HRTF)binaural rendering may be used. Ambisonics, Surround, vector-basedamplitude panning (VBAP) or similar techniques may be used if the soundproducing hardware includes a set of speakers.

According to some embodiments described herein, in a scenario includingsemi-autonomous driving where a handoff occurs between a driver and thevehicle for control over the vehicle, embodiments described herein mayfacilitate the handover. The dichotomy between omnidirectional sound anddirectional sound may be used to suggest moments in which a handover isto happen. The catch, inform, and aid sequence may be used to announcethe end of an autonomous driving road, informing the driver about theneed to take over control of the vehicle. In such a scenario, the catchand inform auditory cues may be used with or without the aid auditorycue.

In an autonomous driving scenario, the catch, inform, aid auditory cuesmay be used to provide natural interaction between a driver and the car.The omnidirectional catch sound can, for example, confirm to the driverthat the system has received voice instructions (e.g., “what is thatbuilding?”) and that the system is now processing the information. Byusing geographical data about the context surrounding the car (e.g.,landmarks streets, POIs, etc.) and eventually data from the driver's eyetracking, the system of example embodiments may then use the informsound to convey desired information to the driver matching the voicetrajectory of the inform sound within the geographical coordinates ofthe requested information (e.g. “that is the Transamerica building”).The aid sound may be used to deliver calls to a driver, such as “do youwant to go there.”

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrative of a method according to exampleembodiments of the present invention. It will be understood that eachblock of the flowcharts and combination of blocks in the flowcharts maybe implemented by various means, such as hardware, firmware, processor,circuitry, and/or other communication devices associated with executionof software including one or more computer program instructions. Forexample, one or more of the procedures described above may be embodiedby computer program instructions. In this regard, the computer programinstructions which embody the procedures described above may be storedby a memory device 26 of an apparatus employing an embodiment of thepresent invention and executed by a processor 24 of the apparatus 20. Aswill be appreciated, any such computer program instructions may beloaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus (for example,hardware) to produce a machine, such that the resulting computer orother programmable apparatus implements the functions specified in theflowchart blocks. These computer program instructions may also be storedin a computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or otherprogrammable apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that theinstructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an articleof manufacture the execution of which implements the function specifiedin the flowchart blocks. The computer program instructions may also beloaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus to cause a seriesof operations to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide operations for implementing the functions specified inthe flowchart blocks.

Accordingly, blocks of the flowcharts support combinations of means forperforming the specified functions and combinations of operations forperforming the specified functions for performing the specifiedfunctions. It will also be understood that one or more blocks of theflowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the flowcharts, can beimplemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems whichperform the specified functions, or combinations of special purposehardware and computer instructions.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method for providing a user interface for routeguidance in a navigation system. As shown at 410, an indication oflocation based information may be received. This indication may be inthe form of an upcoming maneuver to remain on a route of a routeguidance function of a navigation system, or a point of interest that isbeing approached. The information provided to the user includes alocation that relates to the information provided. At 420, a firstauditory cue may be provided. This may be provided by sound generatinghardware such as a set of speakers, a pair of headphone or earbuds, orany hardware configured to produce audible sounds. The first auditorycue may be generated to be perceived by a user as an omnidirectionalsound, lacking a specific virtual source location. At 430, a secondauditory cue may be generated. The second auditory cue may be producedusing three-dimensional spatial audio techniques to have a virtualsource relative to the user, and the second auditory cue may dynamicallymove during generation of the auditory cue from the first virtual sourcelocation relative to the user to a second virtual source locationrelative to the user. This second virtual source location may bepositioned between the user and the location associated with thelocation based information. In this manner, the user's attention isdrawn to the virtual source location—beyond which is visible thelocation related to the information. A third auditory cue may begenerated at 440, where the third auditory cue is also produced usingthree-dimensional spatial audio techniques to have a virtual sourceproximate the location where the second auditory cue ended, remindingthe user of the location indicated by the second auditory cue.

In an example embodiment, an apparatus for performing the method of FIG.7 above may comprise a processor (e.g., the processor 24) configured toperform some or each of the operations (410-440) described above. Theprocessor may, for example, be configured to perform the operations(410-440) by performing hardware implemented logical functions,executing stored instructions, or executing algorithms for performingeach of the operations. Alternatively, the apparatus may comprise meansfor performing each of the operations described above. In this regard,according to an example embodiment, examples of means for performingoperations 410-440 may comprise, for example, the processor 24 and/or adevice or circuit for executing instructions or executing an algorithmfor processing information as described above.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which theseinventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is tobe understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Moreover, although the foregoing descriptions and the associateddrawings describe example embodiments in the context of certain examplecombinations of elements and/or functions, it should be appreciated thatdifferent combinations of elements and/or functions may be provided byalternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appendedclaims. In this regard, for example, different combinations of elementsand/or functions than those explicitly described above are alsocontemplated as may be set forth in some of the appended claims.Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed:
 1. An apparatus comprising at least one processorand at least one non-transitory memory including computer program codeinstructions, the computer program code instructions configured to, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:receive an indication of location based information for a user; providefor generation of a first auditory cue in response to receiving theindication of location based information, wherein the first auditory cuecomprises a sound configured to alert the user of the availability ofthe location based information; and provide for generation of a secondauditory cue having a moving virtual source location usingthree-dimensional spatial audio effects, the apparatus further causedto: provide for generation of a beginning of the second auditory cue ata first virtual source location; and provide for generation of atransition phase of the second auditory cue moving the moving virtualsource location from the first virtual source location along atrajectory and ending at a second virtual source location, wherein thesecond virtual source location is a location positioned between the userand a location identified in the location based information.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:provide a third auditory cue in response to the second auditory cueending, wherein the third auditory cue comprises a sound generated atthe second virtual source location.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe first auditory cue comprises an omnidirectional sound lacking aperceptible virtual source location from which the sound emanates. 4.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second auditory cue comprises anatural language sentence conveying the location based information tothe user.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first auditory cueand second auditory cue are configured to be generated by a plurality ofaudio speakers using at least one spatial audio method.
 6. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the first virtual source location is proximate theuser's head and wherein the trajectory is a curved trajectory from thefirst virtual source location to the second virtual source location. 7.The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the curved trajectory is in ahorizontal plane.
 8. A computer program product comprising at least onenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium havingcomputer-executable program code instructions stored therein, thecomputer-executable program code instructions comprising program codeinstructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:receive an indication of location based navigation information for auser; and provide for generation of an auditory cue having a movingvirtual source location using three-dimensional audio effects, theapparatus further caused to: provide for generation of a beginning ofthe auditory cue at a first virtual source location; and provide forgeneration of a transition phase of the auditory cue moving the movingvirtual source location from the first virtual source location along atrajectory and ending at a second virtual source location, wherein thesecond virtual source location is a location positioned between the userand a location identified in the location based navigation information,and wherein the auditory cue comprises natural language instructionsregarding route guidance.
 9. The computer program product of claim 8,wherein the auditory cue is a first auditory cue, the computer programproduct further comprising program code instructions to: provide asecond auditory cue in response to the first auditory cue ending,wherein the second auditory cue comprises a sound generated with avirtual source location at the second virtual source location.
 10. Thecomputer program product of claim 8, wherein the auditory cue comprisesan instruction regarding a maneuver to remain on a route of the routeguidance, and wherein the second virtual source location is positionedbetween the user and a location associated with the maneuver.
 11. Thecomputer program product of claim 8, wherein the auditory cue comprisesa first auditory cue, the computer program product further comprisingprogram code instructions to provide for generation of an initialauditory cue, wherein the initial auditory cue precedes the firstauditory cue and comprises an omnidirectional sound relative to theuser.
 12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the initialauditory cue and first auditory cue are configured to be generated by aplurality of audio speakers using at least one spatial audio method. 13.The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the first virtualsource location is proximate the user's head and wherein the trajectoryis a curved trajectory from the first virtual source location to thesecond virtual source location.
 14. The computer program product ofclaim 13, wherein the curved trajectory is in a horizontal plane.
 15. Amethod comprising: receiving an indication of location based informationfor a user; providing for generation of a first auditory cue having amoving virtual source location using three-dimensional audio effects,wherein providing for generation of the first auditory cue comprises:providing for generation of a beginning of the first auditory cue at afirst virtual source location; and providing for generation of atransition phase of the first auditory cue moving the moving virtualsource location from the first virtual source location along atrajectory and ending at a second virtual source location, wherein thesecond virtual source location is a location positioned between the userand a location identified in the location based information; andproviding a second auditory cue in response to the first auditory cueending, wherein the second auditory cue comprises a sound generated atthe second virtual source location.
 16. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising: providing an initial auditory cue before the first auditorycue, wherein the initial auditory cue comprises an omnidirectional soundrelative to the user.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the initialauditory cue comprises an omnidirectional sound lacking a perceptiblevirtual source location from which the sound emanates.
 18. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the first auditory cue comprises a natural languagesentence conveying the location based information to the user.
 19. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the first auditory cue and second auditorycue are configured to be generated by a plurality of audio speakersusing at least one spatial audio method.
 20. The method of claim 15,wherein the first virtual source location is proximate the user's headand wherein the trajectory is a curved trajectory from the first virtualsource location to the second virtual source location.